This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

40369 

Vol. 86, No. 142 

Wednesday, July 28, 2021 

1See 23 FR 10107: https://www.govinfo.gov/ 

content/pkg/FR-1958-12-23/pdf/FR-1958-12- 

23.pdf#page=1. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

9 CFR Parts 327, 351, 354, 355, 381, 

500, and 592 

[Docket No. FSIS 2019–0001] 

RIN 0583–AD76 

Establishing a Uniform Time Period 

Requirement and Clarifying Related 

Procedures for the Filing of Appeals of 

Agency Inspection Decisions or 

Actions; Correction 

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; correction. 

SUMMARY: This document corrects the 

Regulation Identifier Number that 

appeared in a proposed rule published 

in the Federal Register on July 15, 2021, 

regarding establishing a uniform time 

period requirement and clarifying 

related procedures for the filing of 

appeals of agency inspection decisions 

or actions. 

DATES: July 28, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rachel Edelstein, Assistant 

Administrator, Office of Policy and 

Program Development by telephone at 

(202) 205–0495. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Correction 

In proposed rule FR Doc. 2021–14947, 

beginning on page 37251 in the issue of 

July 15, 2021, make the following 

correction: On page 37251, in the first 

column, the Regulation Identifier 

Number is corrected to read ‘‘RIN 0583– 

AD76’’. 

Done at Washington, DC. 

Paul Kiecker, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2021–16058 Filed 7–27–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

9 CFR Part 355 

[Docket No. FSIS–2020–0013] 

RIN 0583–AD83 

Certified Products for Dogs, Cats, and 

Other Carnivora; Inspection, 

Certification, and Identification as to 

Class, Quality, Quantity, and Condition 

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Food Safety and 

Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing 

to end the program under which FSIS 

inspectors provide fee-for-service 

certification that certain foods for dogs, 

cats and other carnivora (pet food) are 

produced under sanitary conditions and 

meet compositional and labeling 

requirements. The certified pet food 

regulations are outdated, and no firms 

are currently paying for FSIS 

certification services for pet food. 

Further, the fact that both USDA and the 

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 

inspect pet food has led to industry and 

consumer confusion, and both agencies 

agree that stakeholders will benefit from 

the simplification of Federal jurisdiction 

over pet food. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

September 27, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: FSIS invites interested 

persons to submit comments on the 

proposed rule. Comments may be 

submitted by one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: This 

website provides the ability to type 

short comments directly into the 

comment field on this web page or 

attach a file for lengthier comments. Go 

to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow 

the on-line instructions at that site for 

submitting comments. 

• Mail: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Food Safety 

and Inspection Service, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Mailstop 

3758, Washington, DC 20250–3700. 

• Hand- or Courier-Delivered 

Submittals: Deliver to 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–3700. 

Instructions: All items submitted by 

mail or electronic mail must include the 

Agency name and docket number FSIS– 

2020–0013. Comments received in 

response to this docket will be made 

available for public inspection and 

posted without change, including any 

personal information, to https://

www.regulations.gov. 

Docket: For access to background 

documents or comments received, call 

(202) 720–5627 to schedule a time to 

visit the FSIS Docket Room at 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–3700. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rachel Edelstein, Assistant 

Administrator, Office of Policy and 

Program Development; Telephone: (202) 

205–0495. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Under the Federal Food, Drug, and 

Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), FDA is 

responsible for ensuring that pet food is 

safe for animals, produced under 

sanitary conditions, contains no harmful 

substances, and is truthfully labeled. 

FDA has had authority to regulate pet 

food since the FFDCA was passed in 

1938. FDA does not charge pet food 

producers a fee for any FDA activities 

related to pet food. Individual States 

also regulate and inspect pet food. 

Since 1958, under the Agricultural 

Marketing Act at 7 U.S.C. 1622(h), 

USDA also has provided for the 

certification of pet food as having been 

produced under sanitary conditions and 

meeting compositional and labelling 

requirements.1 Under the regulations at 

9 CFR part 355, participating facilities 

pay for this certification. The 

regulations governing FSIS certification 

services for pet food have not been 

substantively amended since the 1960’s; 

therefore, the requirements are outdated 

(e.g., requirements regarding pet food 

ingredients and the submission of firm 

blueprints). Additionally, the 

regulations allow for certification only 

of certain categories of pet food (i.e., 

canned or semi-moist maintenance food, 

canned or fresh frozen certified 

supplemental animal foods, and canned 

certified variety meats). Many types of 

pet foods developed in the last few 

decades are thus not eligible for FSIS 

certification (e.g., pet jerky, pet treats, 

pet rawhides, raw pet food, freeze-dried 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
40370 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 142 / Wednesday, July 28, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

pet food, and prescription pet food). 

Likely for these reasons, as of June 2020, 

no firms were participating in the FSIS 

certified pet food program. 

FSIS is proposing to remove 9 CFR 

part 355 from the regulations because 

the certified pet food regulations are 

outdated, no companies use the 

voluntary service, and the regulations 

have led to industry and consumer 

confusion. FSIS and FDA agree that 

stakeholders will benefit from a single 

set of Federal pet food safety regulations 

under FDA jurisdiction. 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

Executive Orders (E.O.s) 12866 and 

13563 direct agencies to assess all costs 

and benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and 

equity). E.O. 13563 emphasizes the 

importance of quantifying both costs 

and benefits, of reducing costs, of 

harmonizing rules, and of promoting 

flexibility. This proposed rule has been 

designated a ‘‘non-significant’’ 

regulatory action under section 3(f) of 

E.O. 12866. Accordingly, this proposed 

rule has not been reviewed by the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) 

under E.O. 12866. 

Expected Costs and Benefits of the 

Proposed Rule 

The proposed rule (i.e., removing 9 

CFR part 355) would clarify that FDA 

has sole Federal jurisdiction over pet 

food inspection, benefiting industry and 

consumers by reducing confusion. As 

described above, the certified pet food 

regulations are outdated and 

unnecessary. As of June 2020, no firms 

were using FSIS’ certified pet food 

program. As such, the proposed rule is 

not expected to increase industry or 

Agency costs or have a negative public 

health impact. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act Assessment 

The FSIS Administrator has made a 

preliminary determination that this 

proposed rule would not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities, as 

defined by the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (5 U.S.C. 601). The proposed rule is 

not expected to increase costs to the 

industry. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

There are no new paperwork or 

recordkeeping requirements associated 

with this proposed rule under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3501–3520). 

E-Government Act 

FSIS and the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) are committed to 

achieving the purposes of the 

E-Government Act (44 U.S.C. 3601, et 

seq.) by, among other things, promoting 

the use of the internet and other 

information technologies and providing 

increased opportunities for citizen 

access to Government information and 

services, and for other purposes. 

Additional Public Notification 

Public awareness of all segments of 

rulemaking and policy development is 

important. Consequently, FSIS will 

announce this Federal Register 

publication and officially notify the 

World Trade Organization’s Committee 

on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 

(WTO/SPS Committee) in Geneva, 

Switzerland, of this proposal on-line 

through the FSIS web page located at: 

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/federalregister. 

FSIS also will make copies of this 

publication available through the FSIS 

Constituent Update, which is used to 

provide information regarding FSIS 

policies, procedures, regulations, 

Federal Register notices, FSIS public 

meetings, and other types of information 

that could affect or would be of interest 

to our constituents and stakeholders. 

Constituent Updates are available on the 

FSIS web page. Through the web page, 

FSIS is able to provide information to a 

much broader, more diverse audience. 

In addition, FSIS offers an email 

subscription service which provides 

automatic and customized access to 

selected food safety news and 

information. This service is available at: 

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe. 

Options range from recalls to export 

information, regulations, directives, and 

notices. Customers can add or delete 

subscriptions themselves and have the 

option to password protect their 

accounts. 

USDA Non-Discrimination Statement 

In accordance with Federal civil 

rights law and U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) civil rights 

regulations and policies, the USDA, its 

Agencies, offices, and employees, and 

institutions participating in or 

administering USDA programs are 

prohibited from discriminating based on 

race, color, national origin, religion, sex, 

gender identity (including gender 

expression), sexual orientation, 

disability, age, marital status, family/ 

parental status, income derived from a 

public assistance program, political 

beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior 

civil rights activity, in any program or 

activity conducted or funded by USDA 

(not all bases apply to all programs). 

Remedies and complaint filing 

deadlines vary by program or incident. 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means of communication for 

program information (e.g., Braille, large 

print, audiotape, American Sign 

Language, etc.) should contact the 

responsible Agency or USDA’s TARGET 

Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice and 

TTY) or contact USDA through the 

Federal Relay Service at (800) 877–8339. 

Additionally, program information may 

be made available in languages other 

than English. 

To file a program discrimination 

complaint, complete the USDA Program 

Discrimination Complaint Form, AD– 

3027, found online at https://

www.usda.gov/oascr/how-to-file-aprogram-discrimination-complaint and 

at any USDA office or write a letter 

addressed to USDA and provide in the 

letter all of the information requested in 

the form. To request a copy of the 

complaint form, call (866) 632–9992. 

Submit your completed form or letter to 

USDA by: (1) Mail: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–9410; (2) fax: (202) 690–7442; 

or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov. 

USDA is an equal opportunity 

provider, employer, and lender. 

List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 355 

Certified Pet Food. 

PART 355—[REMOVED] 

■ Accordingly, under the authority 7 

U.S.C. 1622, 1624; 7 CFR 2.17 (g) and 

(i), 255, the Food Safety and Inspection 

Service proposes to amend 9 CFR 

chapter III by removing part 355. 

Paul Kiecker, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15438 Filed 7–27–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P 


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